When you think of November you think of Thanksgiving day. Thanksgiving means
Giving Thanks! This is a time of reflection on "Giving Thanks" to God
for the bountiful blessings that we have.

The first "Thanksgiving Day" originated with the festival held by
Plymouth Colony in December 1621, in gratitude for a successful harvest. The
Pilgrims from England had landed at Plymouth Rock in December 1620 and had
endured a very hard year.

On that first "Thanksgiving Day" they thanked God that they were
still alive and had food to eat. They held that first "Thanksgiving
Day" in gratitude and praise to God.

How many Americans have forgotten this? Many probably don't even think of God
on "Thanksgiving Day" much less actually pray to Him or to give thanks
to Him.

On October 3, 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of
November as Thanksgiving Day, a day to give thanks to God for the multitudinous
blessings He had bestowed upon our nation.

Today, Thanksgiving Day is observed on the fourth Thursday of November as set
by Congress in December 1941.

When you eat your Thanksgiving meal this year, will you give thanks to God?

Let's look at THREE POINTS in giving thanks to God.

Count Your Blessings instead of Sheep!

James recorded: "Every good gift and every perfect gift
is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no
variation or shadow of turning" (James 1:17).

Every good gift comes from God!

ON THE SPIRITUAL SIDE,

We can be thankful for:

God is good. - All good gifts comes from God.

Jesus loved us so much that He died for us.

The Bible is God's truth and itís free.

God's holy spirit. - It guides us into all truth.

God forgives us and He does not hold grudges. God forgives
and forgets.

God answers our prayers.

ON THE PHYSICAL SIDE:

We can be thankful for:

Our family, our mates, our children and our grandchildren.

Our friends.

Our health. - Without good health, we have serious problems
in our lives.

Our eyes with sight. - To see the beauty of God's creation.

Our ears to hear with. - To listen to music, or hear a
child's first word.

Our housing and our clothing.

Our talents and our Hobbies.

Our employment. - Our country is an Industrial giant.

Our educational system. - It is one of the best in the world.

Our welfare system for those who really need it.

We can be thankful for: The GOOD LIFE in the United States of
America. Our living standards are the highest of any nation on the earth. 6% of
the world's population enjoying 50% of the world's wealth.

Running water. - We waste more water than some third world
nations have.

Gas. This helps to heat our homes and businesses.

T.V. and Radio for our entertainment.

Micro wave ovens for those quicky meals.

Be Humble in Giving Thanks!

How many people will give Thanks to GOD on Thanksgiving Day?
50%, 40%, 30%, 20%.

Let's read Luke 17:12-19: "Then as He entered a certain
village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they
lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" So
when He saw them, He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the
priests." And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. Now one of
them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified
God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a
Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But
where are the nine? "Were there not any found who returned to give glory to
God except this foreigner?" And He said to him, "Arise, go your way.
Your faith has made you well."

Let's notice a few things about this passage: We need to be
thankful. We have been blessed abundantly by God.

We need to be humble. We are not totally independent. No man
is an island.

It takes time to be thankful. It takes time to tell someone
thanks. It takes time to pray to God and say thanks.

It takes a right attitude to be thankful. Gratitude is an
attitude.

Everything we have comes from God: Our health, our job, the
good life. How quick something could happen to take it all away. Remember the
story of Job.

Job had many children and many possessions. In a very brief
period of time, it was all taken away. (Read the first chapter of Job.)

Don't let your attitude get so bad that you are not thankful.
Sometimes we may think that we don't have any thing to be thankful for.

Remember a principle: If you have little, there is someone
else who has less. You say you have a hole in your sock, someone else may not
have a sock. You say you don't have a sock, someone else may not have a shoe.
You say you don't have a shoe, someone else may not have a foot.

We are COMMANDED to give THANKS to GOD!

There are many scriptures in the Bible on giving thanks to
God. Let's look at a few: "Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your
vows to the Most High." {15} Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will
deliver you, and you shall glorify Me" Psalms 50:14-15 (NKJV).

"Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD,
for He is good! For His mercy endures forever" Psalms 106:1 (NKJV).

The apostle Paul said: "Pray without ceasing, {18} in
everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for
you" (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 NKJV).

"Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. {2} And
walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering
and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. {3} But fornication and all
uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting
for saints; {4} neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting,
which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks" (Ephesians 5:1-4
NKJV).

Continuing in Ephesians 5:19-20 (NKJV): "speaking to one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in
your heart to the Lord, {20} giving thanks always for all things to God
the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ".

"Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice
of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to
His name" Hebrews 13:15 (NKJV).

Remember what President Bush said: "READ MY LIPS."
God expects us to use our lips to give thanks to Him.

Jesus set us an example in giving thanks. One example was
before a meal where He fed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish:
" And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two
fish." {18} He said, "Bring them here to Me." {19} Then He
commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves
and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave
the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. {20} So
they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the
fragments that remained" (Matthew 14:17-20 NKJV).

Jesus blessed the fish and the bread. To "bless" is
"to speak well of, i.e. (religiously) to bless (thank or invoke a
benediction upon, prosper):--bless, praise".

In Conclusion: We need to count our blessings instead
of sheep.

We need to be humble, knowing that God has blessed us
abundantly.

We may be commanded to give thanks to God but we should
delight in doing so.

We may only have one Thanksgiving Day a year, but as
Christians we need to be Giving Thanks to God every day.